Process of heating liquids



L. @.YABOGADO. PROCESS 0F HEATING LIQUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY l2, 1919.

.Patented J une 21, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

L. GA ABOGADO.

PROCESS 0F HEATING LIQUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I2, I9I9.

Patented June 21, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

atteinte LUIS G. ABOGADO, OF MEXICO, MEXICO.

PROCESS OF HEATING LIQUIDS.

Application led May 12,

To all whom t may Gomera:

Be it known that I, Luis G. ABOGADO, citizen of Mexico, residing at Calle Independencia No. 17, Mexico city, Mexico, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Heating Liquids, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a process of heating electrically-conducting liquids, and particularly water, for the purpose of providing a supply of hot liquid, or the heating may be carried, in some cases, to such a oint as to vaporize or volatilize the li uid.

he object of my invention is to obtain t ese results with a relatively low consumption of electric current, and in a very short time. To this end, I pass l an electric current through a thin spirally-moving film of a conducting liquid, in a direction transverse to the movement of the film, that is to say, across the film. In the preferred forms of my invention, this film is of absolutely uniform thickness, so that the current, which flows across every portion of the film, will exert an equal effect at all points of the film. The liquid forming part of the circuit, the operation will be started by admitting water between the electrodes engaging opposite' faces of said film, and when the supply of liquid is shut off', there will be an increased heating effect, so that even yif the liquid is simply heated (below its boiling point) during the flow of said. film, it will be heated to evaporation when the film becomes stationary, and the steam or vapors evolved will travel in a spiral path, until all the liquid between the electrodes has been vaporized, when the absence of such liquid will break the circuit automatically.

The invention will now be described in detail, and its novel features will then be pointed out in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings illustrating three forms of apparatus suitable for carrying out my improved process. Figure 1 is a vertical section, on line 1-1 of Fig. 3, showing one form of such apparatus; Fig. 2 is a-vertical section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 4; Figs. 3 and 4 are horizontal sections o-n lines 3 3 and 4--4 respectively of Figs. 1 and 2 respectively; Fig. 5is a top view of the bot- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 21, 1921.

1919. serial No. 296,304.

tom head or lug employed in this form of apparatus; ig. 6 is a top view of the apparatus; Fig. 7 is a vertical central section through the other form of the apparatus, in

`a plane corresponding to that ofv Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 shows this second apparatus in section on a plane correponding to that of Fig.

threaded as shown for convenient connection with the threaded end of a liquid-sup- Ely pipel (not shown), which pipe would be tted with a cock to regulate and shut off the supply of liquid. On a circumferential internal shoulder A of the casing is seated the lower edge of, a cylindrical shell B. In the lower portion of said shell is located a lower head or plug C, formed with spaced segmental extensions C engaging the inner surface of the shell, while the intervening portions of the head are out of contact with the shell, so as to leave two segmental passages D, D', see Fig.` 4, in permanent communication with a chamber A* formed in the casing A below the head or plug C. Into the upper end of the shell B is fitted an upper head or plug E, similar to the he-adC, but having its entire circumference in engagement with the inner surface of the shell. Each of these heads is made with a central aperture through whichv passes a longitudinal rod F threaded at its ends to receive nuts Gr, G fitted into suitable recesses in the outer faces of said heads. the latter being connectedv by said rod and nuts. The upper end of the shell B its into a ring H connected, as by screws J, with a cap K provided with 'an outlet K', which may be connected with a goose-neck pipe L or other means for carrying away the heated liquid, or the steam or vapor produced. The ring H with the cap K corresponds to the casing A, and these parts H, K form an upper casing. The screws J also serve to secure in position, an additional cap M, of insulating material, forming with the cap K a chamber N.

Between the heads C, E, which are made of insulating material, are located the two electrodes O, O which are alike in shape, each of them comprising two cylinder segments of different diameters connected by a bend lying in an axial plane, said segments being co-aXial with the shell B. Any metal or other suitable conductor carbon) may be used for these electrodes. he upper and lower edges of the electrodes are fitted into corresponding grooves in the opposing surfaces of the heads C, E, and the largediameter portion of one electrode is placed adjacent to the small-diameter portion of the other electrode, so that these portions will be parallel and very close together. The spacing of the overlapping electrode portions is uniform at all points of the electrodes. Between the rod F, and the electrodes a tube P, likewise 'of conducting material, is iitted concentrically, the ends of said tube entering annular grooves in the heads C, E. The cylindrical wall of the tube P is solid, except for perforations such as P located at its upper portion, adjacent to the head E, and leading from the chamber Q outside the tube to the chamber R within the upper portion of the tube. Apertures E in the head E connect the chamber R with an outlet chamber S formed between the head E and the cap K. The two bends connecting the cylinder segments of the same electrode are substantially in diametrical alinement, see Fig. 3, and at these bends I secure to the electrodes, as by welding, longitudinal rods T passing through the heads C, E and threaded to receive nuts U, U. These nuts engage washers V, V respectively, and insulating sleeves V, which might be made integral with the (insulating) washers V, surround the rods T where they extend through the cap K, which is generally made of metal. The wires W for supplying the current pass through a suitable aperture in the cap or cover M, and their ends are clamped against the nuts U by binding nuts W of well-known character, these terminals being contained in the chamber N, and protected by the cap M.

On the threaded portions of the rod F are mounted loosely two disks X the peripheries of which engage the inner surface of the tube P with a sliding lit, and these disks are pressed toward each other by nuts Y, to hold in position a heat-retaining body Z, which is a stonelike mass filling the tube P between said disks; such mass may consist, for instance, of a hydraulic cement made from cement, asbestos, bone ash, and some bichromate of potash to harden the mass.

Through the caps M, K and the upper head E extends a vertical rod a mounted to turn about its axis and carrying at its upper end a handle a which may also serve as a pointer indicating on a scale M of the outer cap M. This rod may extend into the interior of the tube P, and partly into the mass Z, and is always in electrical connection with said. tube; the rod a carries a conducting switch-plate b extending through an opening of the tube and adapted to be swung into contact with the electrode O, so that when the switch is in this position, the tube P is electrically connected with said electrode and virtually becomes part of it.

In operation, the electrodes are connected with a source of electricity, generally an ordinary lighting circuit supplying either direct or alternating current, and then the supply of liquid is turned on, so that the water or other liquid will pass through the inlet A into the chamber A*, andfrom there through the segmental passages D, D into the outer portion of the annular chamber Q, adjacent to the shell B. The liquid will then flow in contact with the outer surfaces of the outer electrode segments, to reach vertical slots c formed between the vertical edge of the outer segment of one electrode and the rod T at the bend of the other electrode. The water then enters the space between the two electrodes O, O', and

'forms a film of uniform thickness engaged on opposite faces by the electrodes, said film completing the circuit; that is to say, the circuit remains open until the water or other liquid is in contact with both electrodes. The flow of the water is substantially in a helical or spiral path, being partly circumferential as indicated by the arrows, and partly longitudinal (upward, toward the outlet). When the liquid reaches the free edges of the inner electrode segments, it will pass inwardly through vertical slots d formed between said free edges and the bends of the other electrodes. The liquid thus reaches the space between the inner electrode segments and the tube P, and leaving said space through the perforations P` enters the chamber R and from there passes through the apertures E to the chamber S and the outlet L. The current passing through the water and through the electrodes heats the water, largely by the heat generated bythe passage of the current through the water, and partly by heating the electrodes themselves, which then transfer their heat to the water; a certain portion of this heat may be transferred from the electrodes to the water both before it has reached the film space between the electrodes, and after it has passed into the space between the electrodes and the tube P. It will be noted that in the operation described the cool water is in contact with the inner surface of the shell B, while the hotter water is nearer the center or axis of the apparatus; I thus practically prevent the loss of heat by radiation from the shell. The temthem. Part of the heat deve o ed in the apparatus will be absorbed by t e body Z, which thus becomes a heat-reservoir to equalize, or compensate' for, any fluctuations in the heating eil'ect which may be due to irregularities in the flow of the liquid orof the current.v

Throwing the switch b so that it will connect the tube P with one of the electrodes, will virtually increase the surface of that electrode and thereby reduce the internal resistance of the apparatus, so that the amperage of the current is increased. The inside of the shell B might be lined with pitch or other suitable material to prevent rusting or oxidation.

If the supply of water or other liquid is stopped, as by closing the cock in the watersupply pipe, the effect will be at first a moderate rise of the amperage, due to the fact that the water, now being stationary, is heated to a higher temperature, at which its conductivity is greater; this period of increased amperage however is very brief (generally a few seconds), and then follows a period of reduced amperage owing to the fact that the resistance is increasing as the wetted surface of the electrodes is diminished by the evaporation of the liquid. The moderate rise of amperage, for a short time, is not sufficient to burn out the metallic connections of the apparatus. It will be obvious that as there is no renewal and carrying away of the heated water when the supply is shut off, the heating effect will be greater and the boiling point will be reached, reducing the amount of water within the apparatus by evaporation, with a corresponding reduction of the wetted electrodel surface and thus a further increase of the heating effect. Finally, when the entire amount of water in contact with the electrodes has evaporated, there will be no electrical connection between the electrodes, and the circuit will thus be broken automatically. The steam or vapor produced after shutting of the supply of liquid, will also travel to the outlet in a spiral path. It will be evident that by a proper regulation of the water-supply cock, the heating effect may be adjusted to obtain at the outlet L' either hot water (liquid) or steam (vapor) durproduced during the continuous admission' of liquid or after shutting ol' the supply,

`will travel in' a spiral path, as does the liquid at the time it flows between the electrodes. The rocess may therefore be used for heating liquids to a temperature below the bolling oint, or for vaporizing or volatilizmg liquids.

In the construction illustrated by Figs. 7 and 8, which is adapted for operation by a three-phase current, there are three electrodes O2, O3, O4, each of the general steplike arran ement described in connection with the eectrodes O, O', but instead of comprising only two segments of different diameters, each of these electrodes O2, O3, O4 has three segments of diiferent diameters, with intervening bends, forming three sets of vertical slots c, al', e, the three slots of the same set being evenly spaced circumferentially (120o apart), and the outer segment of one electrode overlapping theintermediate segment of the adjacent electrode, which intermediate segment again overlaps the inner segment of another electrode. All these segments are concentric with the axis of the rod F. There are three terminals or binding posts, one for each of the electrodes. In other respects, the construction shown in Figs. 7 and 8 is the same as in Figs. 1 to 6, but no switch such as b is shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

In Fig. 9'the shell B is rectangular instead of cylindrical, and the electrodes O5, O6 are given a corresponding shape. They too consist of portions of a segmental nature arranged to overlap and to form a splral path for the thin film of liquid traveling between the electrodes, the opposing, film-engaging faces of the electrodes being evenly spaced at all points of the i'ilm, in each form of my invention.

In other respects, the forms of my invention illustrated by Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are constructed in substantially the same manner as the form shown in Figs. 1 to 6, and the operation and advantages of all three forms of apparatus are practically the same.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the nature of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. The process which consists in passing an electric' current across every portion of' a non-whirling lm of a conducting liquid moving spirally and helically at a substantially constant speed.

2. The process which consists in forming a conducting liquid into a spirally and helically moving film of constant thicknessthroughout its path so as to secure a substantially constant speed of flow, and pass-l.

ing an electric current across said iilm, at every portion thereof, While the film is in spiral and helical motion.

3. The process which consists in causing a conducting liquid to travel spirally and helically in a thin film and assing an electric current across said movlng film to heat the liquid, then stopping the flow of the passing an electric current 10 liquid and through the liquid while the latter is stationary, to heat the liquid to a higher temperature, and removing the resulting vapors in a spiral and helical path.

LUIS G. ABOGADO 

